Back when I was a kid in the '50s, I was aspiring to be a roper, so Dad began teaching me. He showed me how to throw a multitude of loops and techniques. My training started on the ground but after I kind of got the hang of it, Dad went to helping me rope from off a horse. Dad did his best, but I was never very good. I did better at reading books and magazines. Loved to read. Loved reading Zane Grey and OO7 books.

Back then I don't know if cowboys would dally the rope around the horn, but Dad didn't. To dally the rope around the horn one would wrap the rope around the horn two or three times and it wouldn't slip if you had inner tube wrapped your horn. Didn't matter because Dad showed me how to tie the rope hard and fast to the saddle horn. Come what may that rope was firmly attached to the saddle horn. So if one got tangled up in the rope and whatever you roped went nuts and the horse pitched a fit that rope wasn't coming off the horn. It was tied on hard and fast (tight).

Now if you roped something and you dallied around the horn and whatever you roped went nuts and your horse pitched a fit you could simply turn loose of your rope and let it go. You weren't tied on hard and fast. It would seem to be a lot safer way to rope something, especially if you weren't sure of your horse or what the critter you roped might do. Simply turn it loose and regroup and try it again.

I've seen pictures of some of Remington's paintings where cowboys in the early 1900s would rope a bear or a big longhorn and if you look real close that rope is tied on hard and fast, and it's not coming off that saddle horn. In the case of a bear come what may that cowboy and that horse are tied to a buzz saw with claws and teeth with the intention of hurting that cowboy. You might wonder why some cowboy would rope a bear? Glad you asked! Because the bear was there and the cowboy and his horse were there, and he didn't stop to think it through. How many times have you just blundered through, and you should have thought it through? I know I have. I darn sure wouldn't have roped a bear, but I know guys who would have.

That was what the old-time cowboys were like. I've heard stories of how they'd catch a 4- or 5-year-old horse that had never been touched and rope it, saddle it and climb on and see who won -- the horse or the rider. There are probably some today who are still the same as the old-time cowboys but most have gotten soft and spoiled. I've read of some old-time cowboys who did it the old-fashioned way. I think of the movie "True Grit" and Rooster Cogburn.

Seems like back then things were more permanent or "tied on hard and fast". Marge has a good friend who will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in a few weeks. Takes a lot of stick to it to make it to 50 years married to the same person. One thing that might make a difference is at the git go they decided to tie on to each other "hard and fast". No dallying around the horn to turn it loose at the first sign of trouble. Come what may they were tied to each other.

I think of professions like being a school teacher or workers in law enforcement or politicians or farmers or ranchers or housewives or moms or dads or on and on who decided their direction in life and have stuck to it. They didn't do it for the money or glamour or the recognition but did it because it was the right thing to do. They tied on hard and fast to a dream and "stayed the course" as the Bible puts it.